Five quick thoughts: Tiago finally looks like he’s getting it

One of the most impressive points from the Spurs’ recent mini-homestand has been the inside play of Tiago Splitter.

The Spurs’ second-year forward appears to be finally getting Gregg Popovich’s system. And since T.J. Ford has gone down with his injury, San Antonio’s offense has been routed through Splitter when he’s appeared in the game.

Splitter had nine points and five rebounds in Sunday’s 102-91 victory against Phoenix. But more importantly, he continued his recent trend where he’s looked decisive and confident with his role in the Spurs’ rotation.

That growth has been something that Spurs Nation has been awaiting since his arrival. It looks like he’s finally coming around. And it will be interesting to check his play in upcoming road games against Miami and Orlando to see if his strong recent play carries over away from the AT&T Center.

Here are a few other takes from the Spurs’ convincing victory over Phoenix.

Gary Neal’s right quad contusion made Popovich throw Cory Joseph into the fire with his most significant minutes of the season. His performance was a little uneven with one point, one rebound and one assist, but it was a learning situation and he made the most of it.

Here’s something that has to make Grant Hill’s joints creak a little bit more than usual. When Hill was a freshman member of Duke’s national championship team in 1991, both Joseph and Kawhi Leonard had not been born. Leonard was born on June 29, 1991, and Joseph was born two months later. Hill chuckled when he learned of that factoid after the game. ”It seems like everybody was born when I was in college,” he said.

Not too long ago, Channing Frye and Robin Lopez were X-factors in the Suns’ surprising charge to the 2010 Western Division finals. Those days never seemed farther away that Sunday when the two centers combined to miss all 10 of their shots and shrink away from any involvement in their offense.

James Anderson was at the scorer’s table at the end of the game, but did not get into the game. Remember when he was poised to enter the rotation at the start of the season? In the first five games of the season, he played at least 20 minutes in every game and nearly did again in his sixth game. He has played 22 combined in the last three games before Sunday’s DNP as Danny Green has been the biggest beneficiary of his struggles. It will be interesting to check how Anderson weathers this early blow to his confidence.